United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2022 - Sam Ryder - Space Man

[escYOUnited]

If I was an astronaut, I'd be floating in mid-air
And a broken heart would just belong to someone else down there
I would be the centre of my lonely universe
But I'm only human, and I'm crashing down to earth

If I was an astronaut, I'd have a bird's eye view
I'd circle 'round the world and keep on coming back to you
In my floating castle, I'd rub shoulders with the stars
But I'm only human, and I'm drifting in the dark

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man
And I want to go home

If I was an astronaut, I'd speak to satellites
My navigation systems would search for other life
But I'd be up here thinking 'bout what I'd left behind
'Cause I'm only human with the real world on my mind

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man
And I want to go home

Gravity keeps pulling me down
As long as you're on the ground, I'll stick around
Stick around
I'll stick around

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man, no
Oh, I'm in the wrong place, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man

I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
Nothing but space, man
And I want to go home​

 

[Ezio]

Second rehearsal clip!

Can't say I am took keen on the echo effect on his voice in some parts but looks positive from what little we see.

The pictures looked great but in motion the staging looks a bit odd. Sam doesn't seem to be in his natural habitat with this illuminated cage construction.

 

[Chrisiam]

So what you are saying is that he's in the wrong space man?

 

[Rocket man]

If the result is super good for Sam, it could be possible that in future, British artists who win the Rising Star award at the Brit Awards can represent the UK in the future. I could totally see record companies fighting each other and pushing their new found talent to represent the UK at Eurovision.

Previous winners of the Rising Star awards have included Adele, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, Tom Odell, and in recent years Rag N Bone Man, Jorja Smith, Sam Fender.

 

[Jonkonfui]

But if they are Rising Stars it means no one knows them... So where is the difference between an unknown Rising Star and a regular unknown singer?

 

[Chrisiam]

Well, one gets more of a boost in domestic radio play than the other I'd imagine. All the cool, hip, top forty 'new music' stations will want to play the latest big thing from the Brits where as they might be reluctant to do so for something that is from someone who is both unknown and connected to Eurovision.

However I'm not sure if there will be a Brits connection to the UK selection process just yet. Maybe further down the line if this kind of thing for the UK becomes the norm. Hell, the UK doesn't even need to be in the top 5 year on year, it just needs to break the taboo of doing the contest with new trendy artists. Which hopefully will happen if Sam gets a decent result and decent sales boost post contest.

 

[gingerale]

I gave the song a 10 but the rehearsal clip left me really cold and confused. Feels overblown in many ways.

 

[Rocket man]

But if they are Rising Stars it means no one knows them... So where is the difference between an unknown Rising Star and a regular unknown singer?

Winning a Rising Star award at the Brits Awards was a big push up for their career, so for example the first winner was in 2008 and the winner was Adele, she'd already recorded songs like Hometown Glory and Chasing Pavements. But suddenly after winning the award, her music in the UK was played everywhere on the radio and she was getting a lot of publicity.

It would be fantastic for Eurovision because having a Rising Star award winner representing the UK, would show a true representation of what the British music industry considers to be our best and new music artists.
Eurovision is also a massive opportunity for music artists to have faster international success for example Måneskin.

 

[Jonkonfui]

Winning a Rising Star award at the Brits Awards was a big push up for their career, so for example the first winner was in 2008 and the winner was Adele, she'd already recorded songs like Hometown Glory and Chasing Pavements. But suddenly after winning the award, her music in the UK was played everywhere on the radio and she was getting a lot of publicity.

It would be fantastic for Eurovision because having a Rising Star award winner representing the UK, would show a true representation of what the British music industry considers to be our best and new music artists.
Eurovision is also a massive opportunity for music artists to have faster international success for example Måneskin.

So if this Rising Star thing is a possible gate to success why would they ruin their chances by going to Eurovision?? It is the song not who is singing, you send Bonnie Tayler and even Helbert Humpeldinckin or whatever . I think in the last few years UK has been sending too similar songs instead of trying for something different and this is in my opinion the problem and not who is singing.

 

[Rocket man]

So if this Rising Star thing is a possible gate to success why would they ruin their chances by going to Eurovision?? It is the song not who is singing, you send Bonnie Tayler and even Helbert Humpeldinckin or whatever . I think in the last few years UK has been sending too similar songs instead of trying for something different and this is in my opinion the problem and not who is singing.

So if Adele had sung "Hometown Glory" which is from her first album, or Tom Odell had sung "Another Love" which was his first single, are you telling me they wouldn't have been successful at Eurovision?

 

[theditz83]

I think linking to a Rising Star award would have more relevance to changing the UK perception of Eurovision perhaps, but it wouldn't necessarily dramatically change our success in the contest. But I get your sentiment and the general idea - hopefully with Manneskin's international success following their 2021 and a (hopeful) better performance this year, we can start to turn the tide ever so slowly in the public's perception but it'll still definitely be a slow thing to do change decades of in-grained sarcasm and media slagging

 

[HarryUK]

I definitely did not ball my eyes out when I saw the second rehearsal clip.... is this how straight men felt when England got to the Euro’s final last year? Quite possibly!!!

I am so proud of what Sam has done and is doing for the UK in Eurovision. He deserves top 10 but that staging alone is worthy of top 5 or even 3. I daren’t say victory...

 

[Jonkonfui]

So if Adele had sung "Hometown Glory" which is from her first album, or Tom Odell had sung "Another Love" which was his first single, are you telling me they wouldn't have been successful at Eurovision?

I dont think it has to do with the singer... I think that after Jade' s 'It's my time' the UK has stopped really trying. I think they are sending 'safe' songs, they never go mad. It is always acceptable songs but nothing else.

 

[DanielLuis]

Am I the only one who isn't feeling the staging at all?
I love the song and I feel it would be a completely worthy winner of Eurovision 2022.
But I don't get those winner vibes from the rehearsal clip, the whole structure just seems completely unecessary and out of place and it just swallows him up, especially on the wider shots. It's like a worse version of the 2018 prop. Maybe it works better in the context of the whole 3 minutes, I don't know.

 

[Leydan]

Interesting how the press reaction seemed so positive as well as on Twitter, that reflecting in the odds (cavets of British bookmakers bla bla bla) yet on here and .net most people seem very negative and critical of it. Especially after the hype from the pics of the exact same structure. I don't subscribe to the belief that it's gonna win, not at all, and personally I give the song a 6 but I thought the staging clip we saw looked solid and quite impressive. Certainly no worse than any other rehearsal clip we've seen.

 

[Jonkonfui]

The structure is not completely unnecessary but COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY.
I think UK did not want to give too much thought to the staging so they decided to put something on stage and since the song has had more acceptance than expected they have just made the something on stage bigger.
But come on Space man and he sings from a kind of rocket thingy... Wow they surely spend three months thinking to come up with the idea.

 

[spinachpie]

Interesting how the press reaction seemed so positive as well as on Twitter, that reflecting in the odds (cavets of British bookmakers bla bla bla) yet on here and .net most people seem very negative and critical of it. Especially after the hype from the pics of the exact same structure. I don't subscribe to the belief that it's gonna win, not at all, and personally I give the song a 6 but I thought the staging clip we saw looked solid and quite impressive. Certainly no worse than any other rehearsal clip we've seen.

On here? I don't see that. It's a mix, pretty much like any other thread.

On twitter it seems a lot of people are surprised/excited, which is great to see, because for the first time in years and years, the UK has actually tried.

I hope he finishes top 10, but he will do well to finish top 15. There are many songs which are getting positive responses and would equally be deserving of a good finishing spot.

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

Interesting how the press reaction seemed so positive as well as on Twitter, that reflecting in the odds (cavets of British bookmakers bla bla bla) yet on here and .net most people seem very negative and critical of it. Especially after the hype from the pics of the exact same structure. I don't subscribe to the belief that it's gonna win, not at all, and personally I give the song a 6 but I thought the staging clip we saw looked solid and quite impressive. Certainly no worse than any other rehearsal clip we've seen.

To me the divide between the excited and the whelmed members of the community is obvious.

The excited Eurofans listened in to some of the livestreams coming from the media centre, the likes of ESCUnited or Alesia Michelle giving their feedback to what was happening. They were extremely complimentary of what they saw, and especially with regards to Alesia you could hear Sam too. The description of the slow build to that final minute, with an extremely strong 'fireworks moment' at the end is what the raving was all about. If you were on Twitter this morning and not watching one of those livestreams you got swept up in the excitement.

However if you were late to the party, or literally only watched the rehearsal clip on YouTube, I can totally understand how you only feel 'whelmed'. The UK literally released a random 30 seconds in the first half of the song, when most of the journalists and press detailed that the richness of the performance comes from the slow build and the satisfying and exciting climax. The rehearsal clip doesn't do the entirety of the performance justice, and saves the 'surprises' for next week.

I suggest watching the ESCUnited live stream (1:27:56) back here to understand a bit better what it was like, because I can totally understand why some aren't getting it off the YouTube clip alone:

You can find out more about the outro, the electric guitar solo part, the adlibs, you can also hear the response from the media - basically where all the hype comes from.

 

[midnightsun]

The song is still my #4 overall and I wish him a top 5 place but the staging somehow left me cold, at least from the short clips we are getting. Maybe it looks better in the final. But we know since last year that bigger is not necessarily better and I have a feeling they went a bit over the top again…

 

[Sean]

Listen. Listen listen listen. I know a lot of you here saw my reaction on the stream and possibly had to live through the moment of the big reveal through my eyes. I'm trying to be as fair and impartial as I can but it's getting increasingly difficult with the UK this year.

If I saw this performance (I've seen all three minutes, three times) from any other country, with the brilliant build, beautiful camera angles and such a charismatic and likeable performer (not to mention the guitar solo which ELEVATES the ending and has some of the best camera shots of the whole contest this year), I'd be finding it difficult not to peg it as the winner.

But here lies my personal issue - I'm just struggling in my British fan brain to process what Sam and the BBC are serving up here. I'm not saying this is going to be the winner as I still feel it lies elsewhere. But, my god, this is the most excited I've been for a UK performance as long as I've been a fan of this contest. Left side feels like a formality, higher may even beckon, but it's my British negative psyche probably stopping me from believing any further.

All I'll say is - thank you Sam, thank you TaP, thank you BBC. I can finally wave my British flag proudly here in Turin and I'm just praying that we get the strong result that Sam deserves.

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

All I'll say is - thank you Sam, thank you TaP, thank you BBC. I can finally wave my British flag proudly here in Turin and I'm just praying that we get the strong result that Sam deserves.

And in the end of the day, whatever the result, that is all we Brits ever wanted. I know I'm going to have a lot of fun going to the first pages of this thread after Turin, because TaP/BBC/Parlophone/Warner have restored my belief in the UK at Eurovision.

Anyway, listen to Sean, and reserve judgement for Thursday when we can see Sam's full performance. But based on your reaction I am damn excited.